We recommend starting with one of our drop-in lessons: for Lindy Hop these are on Tuesday nights and for Blues on Monday nights.

Booking is not required for any of these lessons, just turn up and pay (by card/contactless) on the door. There's no need to bring a partner as we rotate partners during the lesson.

These lessons are followed by a couple of hours of music and social dancing, sometimes with a live band (see individual Monday and Tuesday pages for when the next live band nights are), so feel free to stick around for that, the entry price covers the lesson and the dancing afterwards.

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For Lindy Hop, if you can't make Tuesdays, or you've been coming to Tuesdays for a bit and are looking to build on your dancing, join the Wednesday Beginners classes. These classes are conducted in monthly blocks themed around different aspects of the dance. The first Wednesday of every month is catered towards absolute beginners, and each following week builds on what you've learned the previous week (though the teachers also recap the previous week at the start of the next, so if you miss one it's not the end of the world). Again, booking is not required, just pay on the door.

A swing dance is a dance that is danced to swinging jazz music, the popular music of the 1930's and 1940's (though many of us enjoy dancing to new songs or modern covers, as well).

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Originating in the African-American community in Harlem, New York around 1928, Lindy Hop is the original swing dance, and is where most people start today. (Check out our Brief History of Lindy Hop page for more on the history of the dance). Our Tuesday and Wednesday classes are usually lessons in Lindy.

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In our Shall We Dance? courses we also teach other vintage swing dances such as Balboa and Collegiate Shag. These are all partner dances, where two people dance with each other. We also teach solo jazz, which as the name suggests, is danced without a partner. You'll see people dancing all of these at our social dances.

Blues is a modern name given to a family of dances, danced to blues, jazz, and related music. Blues dance, as a style, grew naturally along with the music. It combines elements of both African dance and European partnered dancing and is often danced with a simple one- or two-step basic, meaning there is less reliance on patterns, and more emphasis on creativity, style, and partnership. The simplicity of Blues dance makes it easy to pick up, and allows for rich variations within your dance.

It's dancing done to socialise! (As opposed to dancing in a competition or as a performance for an audience).

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On Mondays and Tuesdays following the drop-in lesson we run our weekly social dance evenings ("socials"). We like to invite local bands to provide live music for socials about once a month, as well as having music from our DJs.

Socials are for the whole dance community, regardless of their dance experience. At our socials, anyone can ask anyone to dance. It can be scary asking people you don't know, but remember, we're all there to dance! (If you're too scared to ask but want to dance, the best thing to do is have an open posture towards the dance floor and hope for the best.)

The best way to ask someone you don't know to dance is to go up to them and verbally ask. (You might see people who know each other shortcutting this, but wordlessly grabbing a stranger's hand is unlikely to go down well). Remember, even if you've seen someone dance a particular role, some people can dance both the leader and follower roles, so you may need to agree which ones you'll do during that song.

It's also fine to politely decline a dance for any reason, so don't be surprised or downhearted if this happens when you ask, or feel guilty for declining when you're asked. Check out more good practice for social dancing in our Safer Spaces Policy.

Once the song is over, we usually thank our partners and go off and find another one for the next song (or go and have a sit down or a chat or a drink of water). It's OK to ask for a second dance (especially if you started some way into the song) but it's not a snub if you don't.